True Love Prevails
by Defier of Reason
Summary: He loves her, but does everything he possibly can to drive her mad. She thinks he's an obnoxious git, but her heart flutters everytime she sees him. Will their heated arguements turn into something else? James/Lily, takes place in 5th year. R
1. Chapter 1: Different but alike

Disclaimer: As you (probably) know, I do not own Harry Potter, It belongs solely to J.K.R. However, if (and it'll happen) an OC shows up, it belongs to me.

A/N: Hey:) So, this is my second fic for now, and I must say, I do love Lily/James :D Anyway, I will hopefully be updating every one-two weeks. Last but not least, the GREATEST thanks to my wonderful betas, **Jazz E. Roisin** and **SorchaSaoirse**. Enjoy and please review!

Oh, plot-wise, this takes place shortly after the Snape/James/Lily encounter beside the lake after the DADA O.W.L, as described to us in the memory Harry witnesses in Snape's Pensieve in Order of the Phoenix.

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'Oi! Evans!'

Lily turned around, recognizing the irritatingly obnoxious voice of James Potter.

'What?' she replied aggressively.

'You dropped your quill.' James said, pointing at the floor.

Lily looked down and picked it up. 'Thanks.' she snarled, starting to walk down the corridor again.

'Hey, Evans! Wait up!' James called, catching up with her.

She slowed down a little, but continued walking with her chin held up determinately.

'We have Potions together now, so I'll walk with you.' James said, rather than offered as he fell into step with her. She didn't respond.

'Oh, loosen up!' James said, annoyed. 'What did I do to deserve this kind of treatment anyway?'

Lily stopped abruptly and turned around, meeting his hazel eyes with a glare of her own brilliantly green ones.

'What have you done?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!' she repeated, losing her calm. 'Because_ strutting_ around and jinxing everyone that you don't agree with, making people's lives _miserable_ for no reason-'

'If you mean that slimy git _Snivellus_-'

'Being an obnoxious dunderhead with an oversized _ego_ for a brain-'

'You don't know my side of things! Like_ he_ doesn't jinx me at every-'

'So _what_?? Why do you and your stupid little friends have to-'

'He called you a you-know-what!! How can you still side with him?!'

'This isn't about him! It's about you, the way you think you own the place-'

'How can you be so sure you know what I think?! You don't even know me...'

'I don't have to!' She bellowed, fuming, 'It's obvious just by watching you-'

'Oh, so you watch me, uh Evans?' James interrupted, smirking teasingly.

'Don't change the subject, Potter!' She shouted, blushing and trying to ignore his winning smile.

'Look, Evans...' James said, regaining his calm first. 'I'm sorry if I offended you, I was just trying to teach that dumb-ass ball of slime-'

'You see?!' Lily said, raising her voice again, 'You try to apologize, and in the same sentence manage to do the exact thing I'm mad at you for!'

'_What_?!' James said indignantly, 'I'm apologizing to you, not to him!'

'And anyway, trying to teach him a lesson for what?! I didn't see him do _anything_ before _you_ attacked him two on one!'

'That's because you were next to the lake-'

'Oh, been looking at me, have you Potter?' Lily said with a smirk, imitating him.

'Oh, _very_ funny Evans.' James said sarcastically. '_Really_ hilarious.'

'Shut up Potter, will you?' Lily said, starting to walk quickly again, satisfied at having gotten the last word. 'We're going to be late for Potions.'

'Oh, so sorry. I forgot Miss Prefect can never be late for class…'

Lily ignored him and sped up until she reached the classroom, managing to slip in with everyone. James arrived a minute later, and went to sit with Sirius, Remus and Peter.

She went to sit down next to Loreen, her best friend.

'Where've you been?' Loreen asked.

'Potter caught up with me and decided to _apologize_.'

'Ooh…' Loreen said, smiling. 'And what did you say?'

'We ended up rowing, as usual.' Lily said quietly, trying to sound indifferent.

'You mean _you_ started calling him names and he tried to get on your good side' Loreen whispered, grinning. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled.

Professor Slughorn entered the classroom, his large belly expanding the buttons on his bottle green velvet suit to bursting point as usual. He clapped his hands twice, and smiled as the class fell quiet.

'Good afternoon class!' He said jovially, looking around. 'You must all be relieved to have your O.W.Ls over with!'

Everyone mumbled 'yes', still bearing the traces of after-exam stress.

'Well, today we will be starting a new potion! Since I'm sure you're all still dwelling on your exams, I've decided a simple, light brewage ought to do the trick! It is named the Draught of No Worries, and it is a fun little concoction. Now, as this does not appear in the usual textbook, I wrote it down for you.' He flicked his wand and the colorful instructions appeared on the board. 'You have the entire lesson to your disposition. Enjoy!'

There was a loud scraping of benches and rustling of bags as everyone got out their ingredients.

Lily got to work at once, and all bitter-sweet thoughts were pushed out of her head immediately. Potions class was easily her best subject, and she was, as Slughorn often said, a natural. As soon as she started brewing, she would enter a kind of semi-trance, which would put an invisible barrier between her and the rest of the world, making her oblivious to outside on-goings. Having entered one of those trances now, her head was spilt into two parts: one of them concentrated on the ingredients and instructions for brewing, while the other part was left free to dwell on no specific subject.

At that particular moment however, an annoyingly familiar face kept popping into Lily's head at random intervals, its crinkled hazel eyes and mischievous smile as winning as ever.

'Stop it!' Lily told herself firmly. 'He's just an arrogant git who doesn't deserve a place in your head.' Nevertheless, she found it unusually difficult to push out the unwanted image, and a little part of her was tempted to look around to where James sat. She did so eventually, only to find him looking at her too. Their eyes met briefly, and her heart did a bizarre sort of back flip in her chest. She immediately pretended to glare at him (while blushing furiously), and turned back to her cauldron quickly.

She managed to concentrate on her potion fully till the end of the lesson, her mind occasionally wandering elsewhere. Her potion earned her the usual praise from Slughorn, who then proceeded to give a small flask of it to each student, instructing them to drink half of it on the spot and save the other half for the next morning. Most of the class did so, and

feeling particularly cheerful and light-minded, they left the classroom and headed down for dinner.

As Lily and Loreen passed their fellow fifth-year Gryffindors Tom Kirke and Rupert Edgecombe on the way down to dinner, they heard them bellowing to anyone who would listen: 'End of exam party in the common room after dinner!' The news was greeted with whoops of joy, and the girls started chattering excitedly.

Loreen, who had been sporting a crush for Sirius for quite a time, was counting on the atmosphere of the party for the development of "things". As for Lily, although she was very popular and potential boyfriends were practically queuing up for her, none of them seemed to fit. '_Almost_ none of them', a little voice in her head reminded her, but she ignored it.

After dinner, the fifth years headed happily up to Gryffindor tower, expecting a relaxing evening after the months of accumulated stress.

Lily and Loreen climbed through the portrait hole, and were immediately bombed with confetti by the boys. Laughing, they all settled in the common room, which had been decorated for the occasion.

After a while, the rest of the fifth years arrived, along with the snacks and butterbeers that had been snuck from the kitchens.

Lily and Loreen were soon joined by a couple more girls and they started enjoying themselves for the first time in weeks, chatting and gossiping happily about everything and nothing at all.

James looked around, searching for a certain pretty red-head. He spotted Lily on the other side of the room, talking and laughing with a few girlfriends. He looked away quickly before she could spot him looking at her. All around the room, people were chatting, catching up on the latest news through gulps of warm Butterbeer. The fifth year Gryffindors were the only ones there, so the common room wasn't too packed.

A short time later, someone turned on the music, and little groups of twos and threes started moving onto the space that had cleared in the middle of the circular common room.

James took a gulp of Butterbeer and stole another glance at Lily, who was dancing. _She's so pretty… _he thought, surveying her glossy red hair and twinkling emerald eyes.

He heard a snort behind him and looked around. Sirius was watching him, smirking.

'Give up mate,' he said, jerking his head towards Lily.

'What are you talking about?' James asked, deciding to play the I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about act.

Sirius snorted again. 'You can't fool me, Prongs,' he said with a knowing look. 'You're dead whipped for Evans.'

'Shut up, will you!' James said, looking around in alarm. 'And stop snorting will you, it makes you look like a badly-transfigured pig.'

Before Sirius could respond however, Remus appeared, clutching a bottle and looking quite cheerful.

'What's up?' he asked, looking from Sirius to James.

'Nothing,' James muttered, throwing the still-smirking Sirius a glare and turning away.

Remus gave him a hurt look, and James regretted his coldness at once. After all, Sirius was the cause of his annoyance, not Remus. 'Sorry Moony,' he said apologetically. 'I'm not in the best of moods.'

'Yeah, I noticed.' Remus said, his features softening. 'Cheer up Prongs!' he added. 'Exams are over! It's a party for Merlin's sake! Enjoy yourself!'

'Yeah…' James replied after a moment's reflection. 'You know what? I think I will.' Looking much happier, he threw them one of his famous grins, and headed towards the refreshments table.

'I don't know how you do that, Moony,' he heard Sirius saying to Remus from behind. 'You always manage to cheer him up. Better than old Sluggy's "Draught of No Worries" anyway…'

To which Remus replied cuttingly: 'Well, you see my dear Padfoot, I find positiveness a far better remedy to mild depression than excessive teasing, smirking and _snorting_ for instance.'

Chuckling, James grabbed a Butterbeer from the table. Barely a minute later, Rose Brown, a pretty and very outgoing girl from his year appeared at his side. Honey colored hair swinging and thick eyelashes batting seductively over her violet eyes, she flashed him a dazzling smile.

'Hi,' she said sweetly, her hips swinging to the music.

'Hello,' James replied slowly, surveying her through his twinkling hazel eyes.

'Wanna dance?' Rose asked charmingly, not waiting for an answer and grabbing his hand to drag him onto the dance floor.

'Hm… I don't really have a choice, do I?' James replied teasingly, following her. After all, he thought, enjoying himself as Remus had suggested wouldn't hurt, would it? Besides, Lily was dancing not far away.

'No, you don't,' Rose replied, arching her eyebrows suggestively and inching closer to him while dancing.

James didn't object, and saw Sirius throwing him a wink from his spot not far off, he too dancing with a pretty fifth-year.

He continued dancing with Rose (who was slowly minimizing the space between them) for the next couple of songs, and thought he saw Lily glance his way a couple of times, but decided he might have been imagining things he wanted to happen, and could not be sure because of the crowd and the dimmed lighting.

At the end of the next song, he made Rose a mock bow, and went off to find his friends, feeling far better.

Lily, meanwhile, was dancing with Becca, Collette and Loreen and was enjoying herself immensely, until Loreen nudged her discretely and nodded towards James Potter, who had just been assaulted by Rose Brown and was now dancing with her.

Lily feigned indifference, but felt a jolt of jealousy. 'That slut,' she muttered to Loreen, 'toys around with every guy she sets her eyes on.'

Lily smiled and dragged her by the arm to a calmer corner. 'Look,' she whispered, 'I know you fancy James Potter. There's no point denying it,' she added when Lily opened her mouth to object. 'I know you too well. You might think he's an "arrogant toe-rag"' she quoted, 'but you still fall under his charm. Less than most girls, granted, but still. Now, you can sulk around for the rest of the evening, or do something about _that_,' she nodded again to the dancing couple, 'and go find someone to dance with. I guarantee you the candidates won't be missing.'

Lily wanted to disagree, but she had to admit Loreen had a point. By dancing with someone else, she would not only enjoy herself, but also have a chance of making James jealous. It was a win-win situation, and even though the big-headed prat got on her nerves more often than not, she couldn't deny she felt different around him.

She grinned at Loreen, put on her most charming smile, and headed to the refreshments table, swinging her hips exaggeratedly for a few steps just to hear Loreen snort behind her, before changing to her usual perky walk.

To her joy, she found Sean Fawcett and Dan Marks, two handsome boys from her year, standing nearby. Shaking back her sleek hair would-be indifferently, she took her time pouring herself a drink while watching Sean, who it was rumored, fancied her, out of the corner of her eye.

A surprisingly short time later, she felt a hand tap her gently on the shoulder and she turned around, sweeping back the curtain of hair that had been hanging before her face.

Sean was smiling at her. 'Would you care for a dance?' he asked, grinning and offering her his hand.

'Not at all,' she responded in a lady-like voice and took his hand with a smile.

Sean led her onto the dance floor, where a slow number was being played. He turned towards her and swiftly slid his arms around her waist, his grey eyes twinkling at her. Lily felt a shiver pass through her body when his hands came to rest on either side of her waist. After all, even if he wasn't the object of her attention, he was still a boy, and a good-looking one too.

Feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious, she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a small smile.

Though Lily felt a bit awkward, she pretended to be enjoying herself immensely, but was careful not to give Sean a reason to think she was interested in him. She was not the type of girl who usually stroked a guy's ego and then slapped them in the face, and therefore regretted having chosen a slow song to make her move.

Eye-contact avoidance and quickly crushed small talk didn't help the matter much, and therefore they were both quite grateful when the song ended and they spent an enjoyable few minutes dancing to a much quicker tune.

She then departed to find Loreen after giving Sean a smile and a 'see you later'.

'So?' Loreen asked as soon as Lily was within ear-shot.

'Argh…' Lily replied, sighing loudly and leaning against the wall. 'Very awkward. I hate play-acting like that…'

'Well, the good news is that Potter kept shooting looks at you when he thought nobody was looking.' Loreen told her, smirking. 'Looks at you, glares at Fawcett that is,' she added.

Lily smiled to herself. It really was easy to get a boy's attention. Nothing very complex was needed. She was about to answer Loreen when suddenly the music stopped and a voice called loudly over all the noise: 'Let's play Truth or Dare!'

Mixed emotions greeted these words. While most of the boys accepted the game enthusiastically, quite a few of the girls didn't like being forced to admit intimate feelings or do embarrassing things against their will.

Lily groaned, but Loreen greeted the idea happily and dragged her to the center of the room, where people had started settling in a large circle on the floor. She took a seat between Becca and Loreen grumpily, and saw that a few more girls had the same expression of apprehension on their face.

Once everyone had settled in a large circle, Tom Kirke, the person who had proposed the game, stood up on his knees, wand in hand. 'Okay,' he called loudly, gaining the audience's attention. 'If anyone doesn't know how the game goes, it's this way. I say the incantation which makes my wand turn on the spot quickly in the center of the circle and it will eventually stop. The two people who are in front of the wand ends will be linked, and the person who gets the wand tip is the Questioner. He asks the "victim", if you would, "Truth or dare?" and the person has to pick one and do the dare or answer the question respectively. Got it?' He looked around. A few people nodded.

'Ok then!' Tom said, placing his wand in the center of the circle, keeping a finger on it. _'veritas-audeo-ludus_!' he said, uttering the incantation that had been invented by a group of students a few centuries previously.

His wand emitted a few silver sparks before starting to spin very quickly on the spot. There was an outbreak of muttering as the adolescents waited for the verdict to fall.

The wand finally slowed down and stopped. A burst of white light emitted from either end of the wand, speeding towards Rupert Edgecombe and Dan Marks.

'Ha!' Dan exclaimed triumphantly as the wand tip stopped in front of him and he was linked to Rupert by a strand of white light.

'Truth or Dare?' He asked Rupert, grinning.

Rupert hesitated. 'Dare,' he said finally.

The people sitting next to Dan immediately put their heads together, offering dares and tips.

'Poor bloke,' James muttered to Sirius. 'Marks is probably going to give him something bad. He's had a grudge against Edgecombe ever since he made him impersonate a duck in front of his girlfriend last year.'

Sirius chuckled. 'That was good that was. Marks will probably give him something extremely humiliating or involving Collette,' he said, referring to the cute brunette Rupert fancied.

'Or both,' James added as Dan emerged from the sea of heads, a wide and foreboding gin on his face.

'Let the show begin,' Remus said jokingly beside them.

'Alright!' Dan called loudly over the noise. 'Edgecombe, old and evil pal, I dare you to…' someone did a drum-roll and there was an outbreak of laughter. 'To go into the supply closet with Collette for 5 minutes!'

Squeals and laughs greeted his words and Rupert and Collette, after having locked eyes briefly, were pushed up by their smirking or giggling friends, blushing furiously. They stumbled awkwardly across the sea of feet towards the supply closet on the other end of the room.

Most of the boys were snickering at Rupert, who had lost much of his usual self-confidence. Collette meanwhile, who was even normally quite shy, was beet-red as she crossed the room through all the looks and grins.

When both of them had finally made it to the closet, Dan pushed them inside and locked the door with a flick of his wand, grinning.

'Allow me to correct myself,' James said to Sirius. 'I meant lucky bloke!'

'Poor thing,' Loreen stated happily, watching their friend disappear behind the door of the supply closet.

Lily grinned. 'Yeah right. As if you wouldn't love to be in there with Black.'

Loreen grinned back. 'Who said I wouldn't?'

'Well, I guarantee you that if I get my chance; you'll be in there in no time.'

'Same here.'

'Don't you dare!' Lily exclaimed, smacking her friend on the arm.

'Yeah, as if. With the prospect of you cruelly murdering me as soon as you get out? I think I'll pass.'

Lily smirked.

'Don't look so satisfied Miss,' Loreen said, wiggling her finger at her, 'I bet you someone else has got that idea too.'

'Shush,' Lily flapped her hands at her friend, 'They're getting out.'

Dan, having looked at his watch, went over to the supply closet and banged on the door. 'You can come out now!' he yelled, smirking.

No answer.

A few people snickered. 'Don't make me come in there!' Dan said in a very good imitation of professor McGonagall. 'I don't want to be scarred for the rest of my life.'

The handle of the supply closet turned, and out came Collette, very red in the face, her hair ruffled and her skirt lopsided. Rupert came after her, he too looking embarrassed but pleased. A few people wolf-whistled.

Lily and Loreen grinned at each other. 'How did it go?' Lily mouthed at Collette, motioning her towards them.

Collette gave a shy smile with a brief thumbs-up.

After having exchanged some details with Collette, they fell quiet again as Tom placed his wand in the middle once again. This time the wand linked Lily and Sirius, and Lily gave Loreen a wide grin.

'Truth or Dare?' she asked Sirius, who was looking as carelessly handsome as ever.

'Dare,' he answered after a brief pause.

Lily smiled and conversed with Becca and Collette, who were eager to offer their help. 'We have to find something original,' Lily whispered, 'we can't just give them the same thing you guys got,' she said, nodding to Collette.

They thought for a moment. 'A walk on the grounds?' Becca suggested half-heartedly.

'Nah, if they get caught it would mean the end of the evening,' Collette said.

'Hmm…' Lily said, racking her brains. 'Well, I don't know,' she said, annoyed. 'Let's just send them into the…'

'I have an idea!' Becca exclaimed suddenly. 'You know that secret little room we found next to the girl's dormitories?'

'Oh!' Lily brightened up. 'Good idea! And Sirius wouldn't even need to go up the stairs!'

'Yes,' Collette agreed, 'I think it's good.'

'Okay then.' Lily said loudly, facing Sirius. 'I dare you to close your eyes and let us take you somewhere with Loreen.'

Loreen blushed a bit, but Sirius got up at once. 'Deal,' he said. He went over to where Lily and Loreen were, and closed his eyes. Lily grabbed Loreen by the hand and pulled Sirius and her to the corner where the girl's staircase was. She leaned against the wall and whispered 'Open up.'

A small circle formed on the wall, and it grew larger and larger till it was big enough for normal-sized people to enter.

People 'Oohed' and 'Aahed' all around the room and a few boys exclaimed indignantly about not having been told. Lily looked into the small room, which measured roughly 3 square meters and had a small sofa and little lamps in it. She pushed Loreen and Sirius into it, and grinning at Loreen, muttered 'Close,' making the circle disappear.

Feeling pleased, Lily swept her legs under her and sat back down.

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A/N: So? What did you think? You're thinking something, so please take a few seconds and put it down in writing. In other words, _review._ (You know you want to…)


	2. Chapter 2: The game goes on

**A/N:** Hi guys. Well, here is chapter 2! I know it took a while, but time's been flying by lately. Anyway, it was supposed to be about twice longer but I decided to post them up as separate chapters in the end. The next one will be up over the following week. Thanks again to **Jazz E. Roisin** and **SorchaSaoirse **for betaing this :)

Just to clear things up, here are the characters in Gryffindor 5th year. I know it might seem a lot, but I needed all of those :)

**Boys: **James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Rupert Edgecombe, Dan Marks, Tom Kirke, Sean Fawcett.

**Girls:** Lily Evans, Loreen Hopkirke, Collette Parks, Becca Summers, Rose Brown, Vanessa Petrelli, Susan Wonders, Deborah Watson.

So, hope you enjoy, and remember that reviews are always appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

Lily stood beside the now sealed entrance of the secret room, 10 minutes after Sirius and Loreen had gone in - or rather, been shoved in.

'How much longer are you going to leave them in there?' she heard an indistinct voice say from somewhere behind her as she leaned against the wall, pondering that very same thing.

'Oh, not long I think,' she answered airily, pushing her hands against the wall to get back up. 'A few minutes should do the trick. Although I presume Loreen will still say I should've given them more-' she turned around, her tone of voice changing perceptibly as she noted that the voice belonged to James Potter. '-time,' she finished bitterly.

He flashed her a grin. 'Aww… and here I was thinking I'd finally gotten a decent sentence out of you. Well, that's my bet down the drain.'

Lily felt a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, but she rather felt like scowling. She settled for a sort of half-grimace and folded her arms across her chest, saying 'That's cheating, Potter.'

'Hey, all's fair in love and war Evans!' James shot back, still grinning.

Lily blushed internally at the word 'love', thinking to herself that this was a bit of both. 'If you'll excuse me Potter,' she said with an indifferent smirk, 'I'd love to stay and chat, but it's my duty to go separate the two potential love-birds back there,' she pointed over her shoulder at the closed entrance.

'Don't let me hold you back then,' James said with a characteristic smile, leaning back with his hands in his pockets.

Lily turned back towards the wall, feeling a bit flustered as she pressed her cheek to the smooth, cold, stone. 'Open up,' she muttered to the wall. It started clearing at her command, the hole in the stone widening until it was full-sized again.

Inside the dimly-lit chamber were two figures, sitting on a minute sofa and kissing passionately, seemingly glued to one another.

Lily squealed and clapped her hands over her eyes as there was an outbreak of wolf-whistling from the onlookers. 'Guys!' she cried loudly, 'do you absolutely _want_ to scar me for life?!'

She heard some rustling, and then Loreen's voice muttering 'Sorry,' although Lily could hear the smile in her friend's voice.

She took a few steps back blindly, hands still over her eyes for extra measure.

'You can look now you know,' she heard Loreen's voice say, now much closer to her.

Lily spread her fingers a bit, peeping through. Directly in front of her was her best friend's face, flushed, grinning, and eyes twinkling happily.

Lily gave Loreen a teasing grin, glancing at Sirius - who, having now joined James was looking over his shoulder at Loreen with a grin, hands in pockets. 'Seems like you two hit it off pretty well,' she whispered to her, prodding her teasingly with her elbow.

'To say the least,' Loreen answered with a smile, taking Lily's hand and starting to pull her back to their place in the circle. She leaned to whisper in Lily's ear. 'He's an amazing kisser,' she whispered, giggling.

Lily grinned, feeling happy for her friend as they settled back down in the circle.

* * *

James beckoned to Sirius and started walking back to their space in the circle, this last one looking very cheery, as if he had just had a very good time.

'Settle down, settle down!' Tom Kirke called jokingly from across the common room as they - including a few others - took their seats.

'Well then!' Tom exclaimed, grinning at his fellow Gryffindors. 'This is turning out to be an interesting night, isn't it?' he asked with a smirk at the kissing couples. 'Let's get on with it then!' he added, placing his wand in the center of the circle for the third time, twirling it and saying the incantation.

This time it linked Susan Wonders and Vanessa Petrelli, Susan being the questioner and Vanessa the questioned. Seeing as Vanessa picked truth, Susan decided to question her about her crush, Sean Fawcett.

Blushing vehemently, Vanessa answered 'truth' when asked if it was true that she had a crush on Sean. Mortified in face of the rather innocent -but nonetheless humiliating - jeers and mockeries, Vanessa tried to make herself as small as possible, throwing a death-glare at Susan from under her curtain of smooth jet-black hair. Susan smirked back, lifting her shoulders as if to say 'that's what you get for picking 'truth''.

Feeling mildly sorry for Petrelli, James turned to Sirius, keen on questioning him about the encounter with Loreen.

'So, I take it that you had a good time with Hopkirke?' James asked Sirius, grinning.

'Excellent,' Sirius responded with a chuckle. 'That girl's got something to her…' He stared off into space with a half-smile.

James gaped at Sirius. 'Padfoot, mate, I haven't seen you looking this lovesick in… I've never seen you looking this lovesick!' He waved a hand in front of Sirius's face with a snort. 'Hark who's talking about being whipped!' James said as Sirius came out of his reverie and glanced over to Loreen.

Sirius's head snapped back to place. 'Whipped, me?' he said with a raising of eyebrows. 'You gotta be joking, Prongs. Sirius Black is _never_ whipped.'

James snorted again, feeling quite deja-vu. 'Yeah, sure. Whatever you say mate!'

Once again, Tom went to the middle of the circle, placed his wand on the carpet and said the incantation.

'Who'd you think it'll be?' Sirius asked James, fixing the wand with his eyes.

'No idea,' James answered with a shrug.

'Take a wild guess then. I'm betting 5 knuts on Wormtail.'

James frowned at Sirius and brought his gaze back to Tom's wand, which had started slowing down. 'I'm betting the same thing on Brown,' he said finally.

Sirius smirked. 'We'll see.'

They waited impatiently as the wand swiveled around slowly and finally came to a rest before… Remus… Deborah Watson… Rose Brown… it kept spinning and James groaned. Sirius whooped as the wand passed Brown and came to rest before a very frightened looking Pettigrew.

'Hand them over mate,' Sirius said with a grin, extending his hand to James, who started digging in his pockets in a disgruntled manner.

Meanwhile Tom Kirke, who, having gotten back to his place after spinning his wand, had been linked to Peter Pettigrew, was now asking Peter 'truth or dare?'

Peter, looking scared, mumbled 'dare,' looking around at Remus, James - who had extracted a number of odd looking objects and a small pile of crumbs from his pockets but had still failed to find the coins - and Sirius as if asking for help.

Sirius grinned at Peter, mouthing 'you'll be all right'.

'And if not, we'll be here to clean up your parts,' whispered Remus with a rare look of mischief. James snickered, wiping his crumb-strewn hands on his jeans and glancing over at Tom, who was deep in conversation with Dan and Sean.

'It's not very nice, but I do wish Kirke would find something nice and humiliating for Wormtail,' James told Remus with a half apologetic look.

Remus grinned widely. 'You know what, so do I,' he said. 'I guess his weepy and gooey manners do get on your nerves after a while.'

Sirius glanced from Remus to James with an impish look. 'Yeah, no harm done,' he said to his two best friends. 'After all, no-one's been known to die of shame. Not literally at least.'

James nodded with another glance at Tom, who was sitting, brow-furrowed, on the floor. 'It looks like Kirke's having a hard time finding a dare,' he said innocently.

The three friends exchanged one malicious, scheming look, and as one, scrambled up, practically running over to Kirke and his cronies, guffawing all the way

**A/N:** Please review, even if it's just a word or two. I swear it helps tons:)


	3. Chapter 3: Dare to love

**A/N:** Hi guys! Sorry about the week of delay for this chappie, I had a few computer problems and my personal hiatus to deal with too; but to compensate for that (not really) this chapter is longer than the others XD. So anyway, thanks once more to _SorchaSaoirse_ and _Jazz E. Roisin_ for betaing this fic! (I'm shamelessly advertising their work too, which is awesome :D)

My other fic **The Later Years**'s deadline for chapter 3 has also been moved - a week more max - because I'm pretty much overwhelmed with things lately… yes, I know, what's the point of having a deadline if you can move it uh? But well, some things are more important then my fics at times…

One more thing, if I go according to plans then the next chapter (#4) will be the final one… I _might_ go up to number 5, but I don't think I will any further - unless I get begged to ;)

Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review (:

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

James, Sirius and Remus huddled down next to Tom, Dan and Sean as soon as they reached them, matching devilish grins on their faces.

Tom looked around at them. 'Come to help, have you?' he asked with a grin.

'That's for sure,' Sirius said, clapping Dan on the back forcefully. 'We figured you lads could use some help from a couple of master pranksters like myself and Potter here…'

Sean looked around to Remus with a slightly doubtful expression. 'And Mr. Prefect here, is he also up for a laugh? We could use his brains…'

Remus glared at Sean. 'All you want is my brains, uh Fawcett?' he said jokingly. 'Anyway, you better not break my newly-found mood. If I say I'm willing to help prank Peter, quite obviously I_ am_ up for a laugh. Although I don't deny it might be due to one Butterbeer too many…'

'All right then,' Tom said with a chuckle, motioning to the other boys to crouch down next to him.

'Operation Pranking Pettigrew is in order!' James exclaimed, thrusting his fist into the air and earning himself a few weird looks from the surrounding people.

'What?' James said sheepishly, glancing at Remus, who was looking at him with a slightly bemused expression. 'It's not my fault I get excited over such, umm, trivial things.'

Snickering, Tom beckoned them toward him once more.

'So,' he said, looking around at his five companions. 'Got any ideas? Or are you just planning to interfere loudly?' He cleared his throat, looking at James pointedly.

'Ideas?' Sirius repeated. 'What do you think we're here for if not that?' he asked indignantly.

'Then get on with it already!!!' Dan exclaimed, speaking for the first time. 'We haven't exactly got all term you know!'

* * *

Meanwhile, Loreen was catching Lily up with the events in the secret chamber.

'-and I just thought I was going to _melt,_ you know,' Loreen was saying with a dreamy look in her eyes. Lily gave a non-committal nod, feeling an odd desire to laugh as she gazed at her usually very down-to-earth friend.

'So, are you two going to go out or something?' She asked curiously, bringing Loreen out of her daze.

'Yes, actually,' Loreen said happily. 'He asked me to go with him to the next Hogsmeade weekend… you know, the last one of the term in two weeks?'

'Cool!' Lily said sincerely, smiling at Loreen. 'Dream come true for you, uh?' she added with a slightly teasing grin.

'Pretty much,' Loreen answered, grinning.

Just then there was a great scuffling of feet as James, Remus and Sirius leapt up from their seats across the room and ran over to where Tom, Dan and Sean were sitting, crouched down together.

Loreen laughed, but Lily frowned lightly. 'I don't think they're exactly planning to convince Tom and co. to go easy on Peter… More likely, they'll just 'unite their forces' to make Peter's dare even more horrifyingly humiliating for the sole purpose of giving everyone a good laugh.'

Loreen chuckled, saying,

'Well, that's pretty much the point of 'truth or dare?' isn't it? Humiliating some, giving everyone a good laugh - and giving others a wonderful snogging session,' she finished with a mischievous grin.

Lily laughed.

'I guess… as long as they don't get everyone in trouble.'

'Yeah yeah, 'as a prefect it is your responsibility to restrain your fellow pupils from doing unruly things, Miss Evans,''' Loreen said in a perfect imitation of Professor McGonagall.

'Anyway, what about you?' Loreen asked suddenly, changing the subject at top speed.

'What about me?' Lily responded confusedly.

'Oh, you know what I mean.' She dropped her voice. 'Do you fancy a snogging session with Potter?'

Lily was about to protest but stopped. Maybe she was just being her usual stubborn self and making a stupid choice? After all, she _did _fancy Potter… Potter, who's mere smile made her heart flutter… Potter, who had been asking her out for the past couple of years… Potter, she remembered suddenly, who was an obnoxious git and never lost an opportunity to humiliate and hurt Severus. Severus, she thought furiously, who had called her a- a _Mudblood_. Severus, who hung out with all those dark-magic loving idiots Nott and Lestrange. Why should she care what Potter said to him? It wasn't like he cared about her, she thought sadly. She had tried to help him and he had done what? Called her a _filthy Mudblood._ What a wonderful demonstration of gratitude. Filthy _Mudblood_._ Filthy_ Mudblood. So that was what she was to him? A meaningless, dirty muggle-born polluting the blood of his great pure-blood ancestors?

And who had stood up for her then? Potter. Potter, who's twinkling hazel eyes and ruffled hair made her melt. Potter, who was an intolerable show-off. Potter, who had made a point of sending her a box of chocolates and a Lilly on every Valentine's Day.

'Uh, Lil'?' Loreen said, poking her in the arm. 'You with me here?'

Lily jolted back to reality from her long internal ramble with a sigh. 'Yeah,' she said, turning back to Loreen while rubbing her aching forehead. 'Sorry. I just don't know what to do. It's so very confusing.'

Loreen looked at her sympathetically. 'Torn between two boys are you?' she asked, as if reading Lily's mind.

Lily nodded slowly, dropping her voice to confide in her friend. 'Well, yes. On one hand, if I do do - something - with Potter, that literally means the end of my friendship - or what's left of it - with Severus.'

Loreen frowned at the mention of Severus, who she had never really liked - understandably, as he and his cronies often tormented her for her muggle heritage.

'He called you a _Mudblood,_ Lil'! How can you still want to be friends with him?'

Lily sighed again. 'I don't know. It's so frustrating. I don't want to throw away the friendship I've had with Severus for years, but on the other hand - there's Potter,' she said, throwing a dirty look at James as if it was his entire fault. 'But then, he calls all my friends Mudbloods. Why should I be any different?'

Loreen patted her on the back, obviously determined not to take sides, for which Lily was grateful. 'You'll be ok. Just do what your heart tells you to do. Don't over-analyze things. You'll cross the bridge when you get to it.'

Lily grinned affectionately at Loreen. 'Exactly how many cliché sentences have you used in one piece of advice Lor'?'

Loreen pretended to look offended. 'It's all true you know!'

'I know, I know,' Lily said. 'Well, just do whatever you want about the Potter situation. I'll deal with the consequences later. Frankly, I can't really think straight at the moment. If my brain explodes, just make sure Petunia doesn't get my bunny slippers ok?'

Loreen proceeded to look mischievously happy, crossing her legs and leaning back, glancing once more in the direction of Sirius.

A minute of Lily's daydreaming later, the group of boys plotting Peter's 'downfall' stood up, all grinning widely and ominously.

The noise, however, did not quiet down, and therefore Tom found himself obliged to bellow 'SILENCE!!!'

'Taking himself a bit too seriously, isn't he?' Lily muttered to Loreen as a few people started, looked around for the noise and they all quieted down gradually.

* * *

The other boys then came forward. 'Ok then!' James called, beckoning to Peter, who came towards them, shuffling his feet uncomfortably and looking quite terrified.

'Peter Pettigrew,' James started in a serious voice, 'after many long hours of counseling-', here there were a few snorts from the onlookers, 'we have finally reached the decision of what is to be your doom.'

Peter shivered awkwardly and there were a few cries of 'get on with it already, Potter!'

Passing a hand through his already messy jet-black hair, James allowed the grin to creep onto his face. 'Straight to the point then. Your dare, Mr. Pettigrew, is to run through the Hogwarts corridors with only your underpants on, and to prove that you have done so, bring back a pastry of your choice from the Hogwarts Kitchens.'

There was a mounting wave of gleeful cries, jeers, giggles and laughs as James finished his words, crossing his arms and looking self-contentedly down at Peter.

Peter, who's already normally bulging eyes had widened and widened as James got on with his tale, was now standing frozen to the spot, trembling quite comically, a splutter forming on his lips.

'B-but James!' He spluttered, looking around frantically. 'Remus!' he cried, spotting Remus, who was looking quite indifferently gleeful next to Sirius, he too grinning at the prospect. 'I-I can't d-do this!' Peter cried. 'What if I get c-caught by McGonagall, or F-Filch?!'

James was about to answer when he heard a disapproving 'hmph' from behind him. Turning around, he saw with a jolt a cross-looking Lily Evans, hands on hips. 'If he gets caught, we'll all be in trouble you know,' she said, looking accusingly at James.

James waved his hand carelessly. 'Another detention or too isn't going to make a difference'

'For _you_, maybe. But I'll be held personally responsible. I don't agree with this one bit. Can't you find something just as embarrassing that he can do _without_ leaving the common room?'

'No,' James answered shortly, turning his back on Lily, who marched off irritatingly.

'You'll be fine, Wormtail,' Sirius said laughingly, clapping Peter forcefully on the back and making him lurch forward a bit. 'We'll be waiting here with a welcome worth of a hero when - sorry, _if_ you come back.'

Surprisingly, Peter did not look at all comforted by Sirius's words and started turning aimlessly on the spot, at a loss for what to do.

'Common' then Peter!' Dan yelled, downing a bottle of Butterbeer. 'Show us what you've got.'

Peter creased his brow worriedly, murmuring something along the lines of 'got nothing at all'.

'Peter, Peter!' Remus started cheering jokingly, clapping his hands. He was soon joined by a few amused others; and Peter, looking a bit revived by the support he was so unused to, went towards the portrait hole, bulging out his chest a bit and making Sirius choke on his drink.

'Uh, Peter!' James called amusedly at Peter's retreating form. 'We said in your _underpants_, you know!'

Peter flushed a bit and whispered 'too many people.'

James was about to respond when Remus placed a hand on his arm. 'Leave it, Prongs. Poor kid's got enough to deal with as it is.'

James sighed. 'Ok then Peter,' he said. 'You can take off your clothes outside.'

Peter shuffled out. Remus, James, Sirius, Tom, Dan and Sean followed after a moment, the rest of the fifth years edging out behind them to see the running Peter.

As they came out of the portrait hole, a half-naked, chubby Peter was revealed, bright red and holding his hands over his front.

James looked around for a sign of Filch, but the dimly-lit stone corridors seemed quite deserted. 'Common Peter!' He whispered. 'Let's see you run.'

With a final terrified look around, Peter took off, running clumsily down the corridor. Half-way through, he tripped and almost fell down, letting out a scared squeal.

Stuffing his fist into his mouth so as not to laugh, James beckoned to the group of laughing Gryffindors and they climbed back through the portrait hole.

Back inside, they settled down once more. 'So,' Tom said, 'shall we continue or wait for Pettigrew?'

'Knowing him, it could be a while before he comes back,' Remus said.

'_If_ he comes back,' Sirius reminded them cheerfully.

'On with the game then,' Tom said, placing his wand in the center of the ring once again.

There was a tense hush as the wand spun around. After a relatively silent minute, it came to a halt in front of a grinning Remus Lupin and a nervous Lily Evans.

'Truth or dare?' Remus asked Lily, smiling

* * *

Lily did a quick pro-con list in her mind. If she chose dare, no matter what her dare was - and she had quite a good idea of what it would involve - she could always blame the thing on the dare; meaning she didn't really have a choice and it was therefore not implicating her true feeling. If she chose truth however, there was nothing she could blame her answer on. If she got asked something embarrassing, the truth was, well, the truth, and she couldn't get away with it. That settled it.

'Dare.'

Remus grinned at her, and Loreen jumped up from her seat, throwing Lily a wink and a smile before joining Remus.

Lily, wondering what she had got herself into, leaned against the nearest armchair with a defeated sigh.

Staring around the room pointlessly as she waited for her dare, she had the feeling someone was looking at her. She threw a searching look around and her eyes locked with a pair of hazel ones. Her heart did a back flip as for a few seconds she stared into the unusually serious eyes of James Potter. Tearing her gaze back, she looked without seeing at a nearby portrait of a few drunken men, her heart hammering in her chest.

A moment later, Remus lifted his head, Loreen having apparently finished talking to him.

He stood up, throwing a brief glance at James.

Lily felt an intense feeling of nervousness creeping over her. Her insides tightened and churned, and she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there.

'Ok Lily,' Remus said, smiling gently at her, as if feeling her growing apprehension.

Lily took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, telling herself it was just a game, but her stomach wasn't cooperating.

'Your dare is-' Remus started and Lily was very aware of the pounding of her heart in her chest.

'-to kiss James Potter for 5 seconds in front of everyone!' Loreen broke in with a squeal.

Becca and Colette gasped as Remus threw an exasperated glance in Loreen's direction, gathering around a stock-still Lily, now unaware of the giggles, smirks and glares that had broken out around her.

The only thing standing out from the blurry crowd was a certain bespectacled boy, sitting quite calmly on the other side of the room. She felt her knees go weak as she though of what she had to do. Kiss him, she thought with another - not unpleasant - jolt of her stomach; in front of everyone. Her head ached.

* * *

_Lily Evans was going to kiss him._ In front of the entire Gryffindor 5th year. He was finally going to kiss Lily Evans. _For 5 whole seconds._

He kept his eyes locked on hers. She was leaning against a nearby armchair, hands clasped, absently twirling a ring on her finger. He sighed deeply. Her emerald eyes, that he knew so well, looked troubled as she kept shifting her gaze hesitantly from him to random objects in the room. He felt a tremble of excitement pass through him as he imagined being close to her,_ touching_ her, her lips. Finally. Even if it was in front of everyone… that didn't matter. Much.

James heard Remus calling his name. 'You should probably stand up Prongs,' Remus said with a grin. James did so, a little shakily, coming forward a few paces, very aware of the stares around him. He saw Loreen give Lily a little nudge out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

'Lily!' Loreen whispered beside her, having come back to her spot. Lily turned to her, running her hand nervously through her fiery hair.

Loreen placed a hand on her arm soothingly. 'You'll be ok,' she said with a wink.

Lily nodded, smiling a bit and turning back towards the center of the circle to where James was now advancing.

'Common Evans!' a voice shouted from somewhere across the room, and a few cheers answered.

Lily, the gnawing feeling at the pit of her stomach intensifying, stepped forward.

* * *

Quite abruptly, all the noise and the faces around him were blotted out. The only person still existing was Lily Evans, in all her splendor, coming toward him uncertainly. He tried to reassure her with his eyes - he himself was not sure of what. It was bizarre really, he thought. All the hostility between them was gone all of a sudden. As if they were more mature now… All the useless squabbles and bickering were a thing of the past. Now, it was just Lily, advancing closer. She raised her gaze to his, and he was mesmerized by her beautiful green eyes, unable to look away.

* * *

He was coming closer, his hazel eyes serious. Weird really, how the petty fights now seemed blurry and long lost. She didn't feel annoyed or angry, just nervous and excited now. There were only 3 more feet separating them… and then…

* * *

Something like 2 more feet. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Only her and him.She shivered, smoothing out a strand of hair. A few more steps…

* * *

This was it. He was officially closer to Lily Evans than he had ever been. He was going to kiss Lily Evans. _Well, technically she was going to kiss him_… shut up. Same difference, really.

He dropped his eyes to her lips for a moment. Her lips, gently parted, full, soft pink, tempting him.

* * *

She was nervous… She was going to kiss James Potter. This handsome, childish, sweet, obnoxious, funny guy. He was so close now… If she just lifted her hand she could touch his dark blue shirt.

* * *

He could smell her sweet, airy perfume now. It smelled of flowers. Of her. He breathed deeply, waiting. Her face was right in front of his now.

* * *

She tipped her head back a bit to look straight into his eyes. They were almost nose to nose. He had stopped moving. It was up to her now. She could just turn back or kiss him. A shiver passed through her as she moved her foot one last step and then, with a sudden surge of courage, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his.

* * *

He let out a barely audible moan. Her lips were so damn soft… He wanted to deepen the kiss, but was afraid she'd break away…

* * *

Her knees went weak as she pressed her lips gently against his. His lips were moist and warm, brushing against hers, sending waves of pleasurable tingles through her body.

4…

* * *

3… He only had two more seconds to kiss her. Her chest bumped his gently as he moved his lips over hers tenderly. Merlin, was she sweet.

* * *

2… It was almost over. She forgot where she was, so wrapped in the kiss as she was. She wanted to wrap her arms around him.

* * *

1… He lifted his hand to put it in her hair, feeling the gentle pressure of her lips against his. Then, it was over.

* * *

0. Lily broke away quite reluctantly, her eyelids fluttering open, her heart hammering in her chest as if she had just run a mile.

She looked down at her feet awkwardly, lifting her eyes to his for a brief second and then turning around. She barely registered the death glare Rose Brown was throwing at her as she walked clumsily back to her seat.

* * *

He took in a deep breath, glanced once more at her retreating figure, the light from the candles reflecting in her hair, and then walked back to where his friends sat.

Sirius grinned widely at him as he approached and clapped him on the back. 'Some snog, Prongs.'

James smiled, his mind elsewhere.

* * *

Two hours later, an exhausted and cranky Lily Evans was left alone in the common room, having taken on - it was her duty after all - the unpleasant mission of cleaning the common room. She looked around dejectedly at the piles of sweets wrappers, empty bottles of Butterbeer, and glasses left discarded on the refreshments table - in the good case, and on the carpet - in the bad one.

Shoulders slumped, she started picking up trash, cursing the person who had given Remus (I took out the word 'his' here) 7 Butterbeers and made him go to bed early because of a headache. She looked disgustedly at the "potion" a few boys had taken to concocting, made of a number of foul Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a mixture of Butterbeer, punch and ketchup, and what appeared to be mashed up potato chips. Very mature, she thought irritably.

A few minutes later she heard a cough behind her and almost jumped out of her skin.

James Potter was standing at the foot of the boy's staircase. She flushed. 'You scared the hell out of me Potter.'

'Sorry,' he said with a smile. 'Need some help with that?'

She nodded, the memory of their previous encounter still very fresh in her mind.

'So… had fun tonight Evans?'

'Couci-couca.'

He looked at her bemusedly. 'Sorry?'

Lily blushed. 'Sorry… a French word for 'kind of' my aunt taught me…'

James grinned. 'Ah.'

'You?'

'Me what?'

'Did you have fun?'

'Oh, yeah,' James answered. 'Interesting night.'

Lily, if it was possible, felt herself blushing even more and cursed her red-head tendencies. She seemed to be cursing a lot of things tonight.

'Here,' James said, handing her an empty garbage bag, noticing the bloated one in her hand.

'Thanks,' Lily said quietly, keeping her gaze downwards, trying to ignore the memory of his hazel eyes penetrating her a couple of hours ago.

They worked in silence for some time, each of them at some point opening their mouth as if to speak, but closing it dismally.

Only when the common room was spotlessly clean did they sink exhaustedly onto the couch.

'Phew,' James said, wiping his brow. 'You'd have been at it all night if I hadn't come along…'

'Thanks,' Lily said bitterly.

James snapped his head around. 'Oh no, no! I didn't mean it like that… I'm happy to help, just that I meant I'm glad I came down or it would have taken you all night…' his voice faded away into a whisper.

'Oh,' Lily said. 'Sorry.'

'No problem…'

There was another awkward pause as they were each lost in their thoughts. After a few minutes Lily shook herself, sniffed her hands, made a face and headed for the small bathroom the common room possessed.

When she came back, she found half-happily that James was still there, drying his hands on his pants.

'Where'd you get the water from?' she asked, playing with the bottom of her sweater nervously.

James pointed to his wand with a grin. 'I _am_ a wizard after all you know.'

Lily flushed. 'Oh, yeah… When I'm tired I sometimes forget that I can do magic,' she said, rolling her eyes.

After a minute of silence, James opened his mouth hesitantly. 'Uh, Lily?'

Lily looked around, coming out of her reverie. 'Yes?'

'I wanted to tell you something…'

Her stomach tightened. 'Um, go ahead then.'

James moved a few steps closer, looking a bit uncomfortable. 'Uh, well, the thing is…'

Lily waited. 'Hm?'

'I wanted to tell you that, er,' he took a breath. 'That was a pitiful excuse for a snog that was.'

Lily opened wide her eyes. '_Excuse _me??'

James shrugged his shoulders, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. 'Sorry, just thought you might want to know.'

Lily felt her anger coming back. She drew herself up to her full height, fuming. 'How _dare_ you James Potter?!' She yelled. 'And here I was, thinking that you'd changed!'

James shrugged again. 'Thought wrong then, didn't you?'

Lily felt as if she was going to explode. Was this really the serious-eyed boy she had kissed earlier? 'You are an obnoxious, childish, idiotic, stupid, annoying, insufferable git James Potter!' she screeched.

James raised his shoulders would-be despairingly. 'That's me.'

Lily gritted her teeth. Was he _trying_ to infuriate her? 'I hate you!' She bellowed.

'Feeling's mutual then.'

What?_ I thought he liked me_.

'Y-Yeah? Well… well, _good_!' Lily said loudly, crossing her arms and turning around to march up to her dormitory. Suddenly she heard a laugh behind her. She snapped around. James Potter was bent over, hands on his stomach, laughing his head off. She felt dazed. What the_ hell_ was going on here??

'Potter?! Have you finally _completely_ lost your mind!?'

James didn't answer her but kept on laughing hysterically, chocking back his snickers and wiping his eyes. 'Sorry,' he managed to choke through his hoots. '…so…funny…'

'May I ask what exactly?' Lily said, starting to feel seriously annoyed.

'…you…' James hiccupped.

_'Me??_'

James took deep gulps of air, straightening up and stuffing his fist into his mouth. Once he had calmed down he said, 'you're so easy to manipulate Evans. It's bloody hilarious…'

'What do you mean?' Lily asked, furrowing her brow and trying to process the events of the last minutes.

'It's quite amusing to see you get angry, frankly… Especially when I have to put so little effort in it in order to wind you up.'

There was a moment of silence. 'Argh!' Lily cried, stomping her feet. 'I don't understand this!!! You mean that you tried to annoy me on purpose?'

'Yes.'

'That you purposely acted like an ass-hole?'

'Er, Yes.'

'That you don't really hate me?'

'Seriously?'

'No, I beg you to lie to me.'

'Ha-ha. So, um, no, of course I don't hate you.'

'You mean this whole thing was a joke?' Lily said, rubbing her forehead.

'Well, yeah.'

'And, er, you um, don't think that was a pitiful excuse for a snog?' Lily asked timidly, blushing furiously.

At this even James looked a bit embarrassed. 'Er- No, I don't.'

Lily was silent for a moment, thinking everything over. 'YOU ARE THE MOST INFURIATING PRAT I'VE EVER SEEN POTTER!!!' she bellowed suddenly, making James almost jump out of his skin.

'A-erm, s-sorry then, Evans.'

'Sorry?! Do you _know_ what you made me go through tonight?? After all these bloody O.W.Ls I also need _you_ to worry about now?!' Lily shouted at James. She continued to ramble on and on about how insufferably selfish he was, how he was so childish that she was surprised he'd ever made it from the Hogwarts Express to the castle without starting a mud-ball fight - at which James colored, thinking that it would be preferable not to mention that he _had_ done that very same thing the year before - and she was so caught up in her rant, pacing and turning around that she started as she whipped around and found herself face to face with a smiling James Potter.

'Lily?'

_'What?_'

'Shut up.' At that, James brought his lips crashing to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist decidedly. Lily made a small noise of surprise into his mouth but after a second flung her arms around his neck, returning his kiss with enthusiasm. As James lifted her off her feet, she wrapped her legs around him and he started walking backwards, still glued at the lips, until his knees bumped into a nearby couch and they both toppled over onto the sofa, Lily letting out a little squeal as she found herself on top of him.

'Potter?'

'Surname again, is it?'

'How the hell did we get to this?'

'I have no bloody idea. And frankly, I couldn't care less.'

Lily grinned and brought her lips to his again, kissing him softly as he ran his hands through her silky hair. This time it was her turn to moan as James ran his tongue over her lower lip, at the same time drawing little circles with his finger on her arm.

A minute of what Loreen would have agreed was 'a wonderful snogging session' later, they surfaced for breath, and James smiled a Lily, his hazel eyes crinkling.

'Ev- Lily?'

'Hmm?'

'That was _anything_ but a pitiful excuse for a snog.'


End file.
